[C320-list] Refrigerator Rack Fix - $0.42 Plus Tax

[Jerry Clayton]

I replaced some of my wire racks with plastic storage type containers that 
have holes in them, they snap into the sides of the fridge and are strong 
enough to hold 20 cans of beer, or soda.  An added bonus over the wire racks 
is that they are deeper so you can hold much more food or drinks, giving you 
much more useable space, plus you can slide them to get to the lower part of 
the fridge.  I purchased them at the .99 cent store a few years back.

Regards,

Jerry Clayton
#988
Marina Del Rey, Ca

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robert E. Sloat" <resloat at comcast.net>
To: <C320-List at Catalina320.com>
Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2010 1:14 PM
Subject: [C320-list] Refrigerator Rack Fix - $0.42 Plus Tax


I have hull 894 (2002) with the very large top loading refrigerator.  The 
wire racks have been falling out of the grooves or ledges they fit into. 
This has been reported by others on this boars.  It seems that the walls of 
the refrigerator creep apart over time leaving a wider space for the racks 
to fit into.  A contributing factor is that the installers may have cut the 
racks on the short side and just a little creep causes the problem.  My 
racks were wide enough that when one end was flush against one side of the 
refrigerator the other end was only 1/4-1/2 in. over the other groove or 
ledge.  Weight on the rack would deflect it often resulting its slipping out 
of the groove or ledge at one end.

Catalina uses 1 ft. wide wire shelving with small rails on the front and 
back for the refrigerator racks.  They are installed upside down so the 
rails point up to keep items from falling off.  Cut off ends of the shelf 
support it in the refrigerator.

My initial planned fix was to buy some wire shelving from a hardware store 
and cut larger shelves to solve the problem.  I could not find any that had 
both the front and back rails like the ones Catalina uses, so I improvised 
and ended up with the absolutely lowest cost project ever on my boat.  It 
only took about 10 minutes to fix 3 racks.

The $0.42 plus tax solution was to buy two feet of heavy rigid polyethylene 
tubing (3/8 in. OD X 1/4 in. ID).  This is the smallest length my hardware 
store would sell.  I used about 6 in. of tubing for each shelf worked on. 
The cut off ends of the racks that hold them in place are approximately 1/4 
in. OD.  So I just, removed the protective end caps from the cut off ends on 
each side of the the rack that support the rack. and slid appropriate length 
tubing over the cut off ends until the tubing is flush against the rack. 
This extended the width of the rack so it would stay in its groove or ledge. 
If done right the tubing keeps the rack centered in the groove or on the 
ledge with the metal cut off ends supporting the rack.  The plastic coating 
on these ends gets moved a little since the tubing is a tight fit.  The 
length of the tubing varied depending on the spacing between the vertical 
wall of the refrigerator and the end of the tubing.  For the top racks, you 
need to leave enough space so the rack can be inserted into the grooves. 
The bottom racks just sit on a ledge so you can make the tubing end closer 
to the wall of the refrigerator.

Cutting and trimming the tubing is very easy with a pocket knife and a 
cutting board.  I had to do a little trimming of the tubing in order to get 
the top racks to fit into the grooves in the refrigerator.

So far the top and bottom racks have loads of soda and beer cans on them and 
none has let loose since the fix about one month ago.

If there is a large gap between the rack and the walls of the refrigerator 
this solution may not work, but the gap on my racks was just enough to let 
the racks come out only occasionally.  The tubing is very stiff and as long 
as it keeps the rack from sliding all the way to one side of the 
refrigerator allowing the other side to fall it works.

If your gap is large you can buy corner brackets for shelving (Rubbermaid 
makes them) which are a few dollars each.  They are metal, around 4 in. long 
and 1 in. wide, fit on the smaller wires of the shelf and extend outward. 
They fit so weight on the shelf would keep them in place.  You might have to 
cut the ends with a hacksaw and tape the rough end. A nylon tie would keep 
them from moving around if you slid the rack around.

Now a cool one from the middle shelf of the refrigerator.

Does any one with this refrigerator configuration make ice cubes in those 
weird vertical trays?  I stopped making any drinks with ice from these 
things a few days after commissioning in 2002.  Chilled gin, vermouth and 
olives are good enough for straight up Martinis.

Bob Sloat
Savannah Hull 894